Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark has been on the scene for so long that he should understand the fragile complexities of the Nigerian political landscape. Not many of his contemporaries in government in the 1960s are alive, let alone remain in active politics. But he has trudged on in his old age, striving to determine the course of things in the South-South in particular and the nation in general.

Embattled former Governor James Ibori of Delta State will hardly forget him in a hurry over the way he harried him throughout his eight-year tenure. He has also been neck-deep in the politics of Niger Delta militancy to the point that while some perceived his role as antithetical to the efforts to resolve the lingering crisis, others believed he was a key influence on the government’s laudable decision to institute an amnesty programme for the thousands of contrite ex-militants in the region.

But as progress appears to be in the horizon in that front, the elder statesman is biting a mouthful of the power rotational policy of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Many observers say he has been a major pillar for the Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency, an assertion which finds credence in the role he played in pressuring the South-South governors into backing the conferment of executive authority on Dr. Jonathan, when it was apparent that a terminally ill and out-of-the-country President Umaru Yar’Adua would not transmit a letter of vacation to the National Assembly to allow then vice president to automatically act as president.  Individual South-South governors have also had dose of his “nuisance value” and have been striving to accommodate his interests.

Despite his age, Chief Clark has demonstrated that he is a tireless work horse, an activist and a godfather who you would underestimate only at the your own peril. Recently, he has taken on the PDP governors who he has never forgiven for their perceived resistance to Jonathan’s acting pPresidency as well as the political leaders of the North, who are seemingly bent on scuttling any latent ambition of President Jonathan to contest next year’s presidential election.

It was Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State that drew his ire in last few days when he claimed that the PDP governors would play a key role in the emergence of the presidential candidate of the PDP in view of their control of a large number of delegates who would be voting in the party’s national convention. The elder statesman thought that the governors were trying to claim the glory that was not theirs and posited that Governor Amaechi’s claim suggested that “those who were at the forefront of working against the emergence of President Jonathan as acting president during those unfortunate dark days hovering the political clime of this country have changed, in true hypocritical fashion, to become tale bearers, shamelessly singing praises of President Jonathan. They have now taken the centre stage, like the professional hijackers they are, employing all crude skills of choreographing an appropriate dance steps in consonance with the rhythms of the current drum beats.”

Similarly, ever since some the Northern leaders aggregated in Abuja, last month, and issued a communiqué rejecting any attempt by the PDP to jettison its power rotation formula in favour of a continued Jonathan’s Presidency, Chief Clark has been on the offensive. He has told such northern politicians that they could not intimidate the South-South with their plots and he is unable to see how they can stop President Jonathan from contesting the election, if he so desires.

There is no problem with his position because it is within his inalienable right to campaign for anyone he wants as his candidate for the presidency. The snag, however, is that he is a little belligerent in putting across his political views. In a sensitive environment like Nigeria, such bellicose disposition is hardly what is needed. Politics is about negotiations, give-and-take and consensus building.  And in this, choices of words are extremely important because a little slip can hurt the sensibilities of a large section of the populace and become counterproductive to the intended result. Any aspiring president needs the majority of the country and unless Chief Clark moderates his utterances and be conciliatory, he can alienate huge sections of the country and jeopardise the Jonathan’s ticket that he desperately yearns for.

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written by ib, July 09, 2010

dear mr usigbe, i beg to disagree completely with u. the so called northern politicians have never been moderate even in seeking the support of other sections of this country. the have strutted about with unabashed arrogance and threats. its about time somebody called their bluff and also issue threats, because violence seems to be the only thing they respect.jonathan would never have been veepee in the first place if it was only negotiations, it was the fear of unrest in the niger delta that allowed these arrogant and lousy northern politicians like yakassai to beat a hasty retreat. i commend chief clark for his untiring efforts to ensure a better representation for the niger delta people. i will advise to not insult him the way u have done in this article of yours.

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